WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Werewolf, Part 3 - Lycaon

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>We continue this week with our look at werewolves, having

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<v Speaker 2>previously discussed purported prehistoric origins of the were wolf in

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<v Speaker 2>the experiences and observations of early humans, as well as

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<v Speaker 2>the earliest known usages of the words were wolf and lacanthropy.

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<v Speaker 2>The former were wolf emerges in the early second millennium CE,

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<v Speaker 2>while the latter lacanthropy, has an older but complex history

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<v Speaker 2>as a second century CE catch all for various mental illnesses,

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<v Speaker 2>which came to be conflated with the Greek myth of

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<v Speaker 2>Lacaan Licaan was the legendary king of Arcadia who dare

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<v Speaker 2>to try and trick the high god Zeus into eating

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<v Speaker 2>human flesh. His ploy was unsuccessful, however, and Zeus inflicted

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<v Speaker 2>a fitting divine punishment for one so savage, which Avid

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<v Speaker 2>describes as following in the Metamorphosis Henry Thomas Riley translation. Alarmed,

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<v Speaker 2>he himself takes to flight, and, having reached the solitude

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<v Speaker 2>of the country. He howls aloud and in vain attempts

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<v Speaker 2>to speak. His mouth gathers rage from himself, and through

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<v Speaker 2>its usual desire for slaughter, it is directed against the sheep,

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<v Speaker 2>and even still delights in blood. His garments are changed

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<v Speaker 2>into hair, his arms into legs. He becomes a wolf,

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<v Speaker 2>and he still retains vestiges of his ancient form. His

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<v Speaker 2>hoariness is still the same, The same violence appears in

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<v Speaker 2>his features. His eyes are bright as before. He is

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<v Speaker 2>still the same image of ferocity, and just to be sure,

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<v Speaker 2>all responsible parties are punished, Zeus follows us up with

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<v Speaker 2>the Great flood. But Laikayan himself is indeed transformed into

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<v Speaker 2>a wolf, and, like the biblical Caine, as Riley points

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<v Speaker 2>out in his notes, he is forced to live as

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<v Speaker 2>a cast off outsider, a lone wolf. In some tellings,

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<v Speaker 2>his sons are transformed as well. While the myth of

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<v Speaker 2>Likaan is sometimes held up as an ancient key to

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<v Speaker 2>understanding subsequent werewolf tales, Daniel Ogden in twenty twenty one's

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<v Speaker 2>were Wolves in the Ancient World maintains that the tale

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<v Speaker 2>is a quote metaphorical derivative of the ancient folkloric traditions

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<v Speaker 2>that are indeed the key. He devotes an entire later

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<v Speaker 2>chapter in the book to Laichan and the complex interplay

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<v Speaker 2>there of three key categories. One historic evidence for a

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<v Speaker 2>lupine transformation right of passage for young men of the

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<v Speaker 2>Antet clan. Two various related myths of lupine transformation and

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<v Speaker 2>sacrilegious acts of human sacrifice in cannab and three a

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<v Speaker 2>supposedly historical tale of an individual changing into a wolf

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<v Speaker 2>after eating part of a human sacrifice at the Likekaea

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<v Speaker 2>festival on the slopes of Mount ly Chaan aka Wolf Mountain.

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<v Speaker 2>I won't attempt to summarize the entirety of his analysis,

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<v Speaker 2>but Ogden does contend that the story is more werewolf

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<v Speaker 2>adjacent than anything. Lykaan is a man punished with transformation

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<v Speaker 2>into a wolf, a transformation that occurs only once outside

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<v Speaker 2>of his control, making him no more a true were

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<v Speaker 2>wolf than Aracting, another victim of divine transformation punishment in

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<v Speaker 2>Greek myth is a were spider, so an unsatisfying were

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<v Speaker 2>wolf and by no means the key trendsetter that some

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<v Speaker 2>make him out to be, but still an important and

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<v Speaker 2>influential myth in the Grand Tradition of werewolves. As discussed

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<v Speaker 2>in the last episode, he's not key to the understanding

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<v Speaker 2>of the word lacanthropy, but his myth eventually becomes conflated

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<v Speaker 2>with the term to some degree. Now. One of the

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<v Speaker 2>tales interwoven in the Arcadian myth is that of the

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<v Speaker 2>Olympic athlete DeMarcus, a boxer who is said to have

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<v Speaker 2>been transformed into a wolf for a period of nine

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<v Speaker 2>to ten years at the Festival of Lykaa, possibly due

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<v Speaker 2>to ritual consumption of human flesh, thus, as is common

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<v Speaker 2>in all Ichaean myths, blurring the line between man and beast.

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<v Speaker 2>But Ogden stresses that the quote unquote werewolf ism of DeMarcus,

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<v Speaker 2>if we may call it, that, is more directly related

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<v Speaker 2>to his status as a superb athlete. In keeping with

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<v Speaker 2>various other supernatural stories of the time about athletes, including

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<v Speaker 2>other accounts of lupine transformation, this would seem a tale

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<v Speaker 2>as old as time. Multiple contemporary mma fighters, for example,

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<v Speaker 2>and professional sports stars have been nicknamed werewolf. The Batman

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<v Speaker 2>villain known as Werewolf was also an Olympic athlete, and

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<v Speaker 2>let us not forget teen Wolf cousins Scott and Todd

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<v Speaker 2>Howe Howard, known for their lycanthropic basketball abilities. This brings

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<v Speaker 2>us back to a continuing point of contemplation in werewolf traditions,

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<v Speaker 2>there is a certain bit of the beast that we

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<v Speaker 2>admire and crave to manifest in our strength and speed,

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<v Speaker 2>or even in our savagery. We'll have more to explore

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<v Speaker 2>concerning ancient loacanthropy in the next episode, including the best

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<v Speaker 2>cases for the earliest written and visual depictions of werewolves.

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<v Speaker 2>Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Factor, The

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<v Speaker 2>Artifact or Animalist Dependium each week. As always, you can

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<v Speaker 2>email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind

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<v Speaker 2>dot com.

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